The rangers were gathering their belongings for their mission to
Swellview. Henry was about to start loading the troop carrier when Dr. K
entered the garage.
"Rangers, before you go, there's something I want to show you." She led
them out of the back of the garage to a vehicle covered by blue tarp.
"What's this?" Henry asked. Dr. K removed the tarp to reveal a camper van.
"If you insist on going on this futile search, I want you to take this."
"Do we have to?" Charlotte asked awkwardly. "This looks like Schwoz's RV"
Henry remarked.
"This is Go-Onger 2" Dr. K declared proudly. "Ground Outdoor Operational
Network General-Purpose Explorational Rover." "Why is it Go-Onger 2?"
Jasper asked. "Go-Onger 1 was destroyed in the war" she explained.
"We've been working on it for years" Ziggy added. "Like me, it's more than
it appears" Dr. K explained. "It's armored, it has long-range
communication capabilities, and it seats four comfortably." "At least in
theory" Ziggy added. "Unfortunately, Swellview is out of communication
range" Dr. K added.
"What are we waiting for?" Jasper urged. "Let's hit the road!" "The keys
are in the ignition" Dr. K told him. "You leave the keys in the ignition?"
Jasper asked critically. "I'm surprised no one has stolen it yet." "I'm
not" Charlotte remarked.
"I'll drive!" Ziggy announced. "Shotgun!" Henry shouted. The rangers
grabbed their supplies for the journey and drove off as Dr. K watched.
After three hours the rangers were getting restless. "Can we stop?"
Charlotte asked. "I need to pee." "Yeah, me too" Jasper added. "We're in
the middle of nowhere" Henry said. "Actually, Emerald Falls is two miles
ahead" Ziggy announced. "How do you know that?" Henry asked. "We just
passed a sign" he explained.
The team pulled over at the Emerald Falls welcome center, which was
abandoned, and made use of the public restroom which had fallen into
disrepair. Afterwards they posed for a group picture in front of the
waterfall.
Meanwhile an old man wearing overalls quietly climbed into the camper van
and hot-wired it. Just as the team was finished taking pictures they heard
the sound of Go-Onger 2 driving away at high speed.
"Ziggy! Why did you leave the key in the van?" Charlotte scolded. "I
didn't!" he said, pulling the key out of his pocket. "Okay, we're stranded
and we can't contact Dr. K" Henry summarized. "There has to be a car here
somewhere" Charlotte said hopefully. "That man had to get here somehow."
They found the thief's car nearby. It was a small white car with a cracked
windshield and covered in dents. Fortunately, Ziggy knew how to hot-wire
the car and soon they were on their way to Swellview.
Rather than stop Ziggy drove through the night and they arrived at
Swellview the next morning. Ziggy dropped Jasper and Charlotte off at the
former location of Junk-N-Stuff. Then took Henry to his former home.
Henry was shocked by the condition of the neighborhood. The yards were over-
grown and the brick and siding of all the houses were covered by soot. His
address was in similar condition and appeared to be abandoned.
Ziggy parked in the driveway. "This is it" Henry said. "You grew up in a
rough neighborhood" Ziggy remarked. "It wasn't always like this" Henry said
contemplatively.
They cautiously approached the door and rang the bell, which made no sound.
Henry knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He knocked harder. The
door opened a few inches and the face of an old woman peered out at him.
"I don't want any!" she shouted and slammed the door.
Henry knocked again. "Please! I'm not selling anything! I just want to talk
to you!" he pleaded. The old woman opened the door wide. She was wearing a
flannel shirt, blue jeans, and a long black trench coat.
"I don't recognize you" she said, pointing at Ziggy, "but you are the
spitting image of my brother when he was your age!" "Piper?" Henry asked.
"Henry?" she replied. "And I'm Ziggy" Ziggy chimed.
"Get in here before someone sees you" she said gesturing for him to enter.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "You have a lot of enemies" Piper explained.
"The team has to always be on the move. They can't stay in one place for too
long."
"Someone is after me" Henry explained. "Lots of people are after you" Piper
added. "I am from a different universe. What about the Henry from this
universe? Can you help me find him?"
"I haven't seen him in years" she admitted. "After the war there was chaos
and lawlessness. In the big cities things are getting better but in small
towns like this, not so much." "Have you heard from him?" Ziggy asked. "No,
not since before the war" she explained.
"This was a waste of time" Henry sighed. "Maybe not" Ziggy countered. "Now
we know that Henry is on the run and one of his enemies might be working
with Venjix."
"Venjix is back?" Piper gasped. "I'm ready for him!" she said defiantly as
she grabbed a broom and held it like a shotgun. "Venjix has been back for a
while" Ziggy informed her.
Suddenly a BG burst through the front door and another one broke through the
back. "They found me!" Henry gasped. Piper fought the BG at the back door with
her broom and Henry fought the one at the front door.
In front of the house stood a dozen more BGs and a bot shaped like a churro
with long auburn hair holding an acoustic guitar. "Thees one is for you,
'Enry!" she declared with a Spanish accent as she played 'Malagueña'"
Ziggy and Piper joined Henry outside. "Oh! My! God!" Piper exclaimed. "What
is that thing?" "It's an attack bot that's come to take Henry" Ziggy explained.
The BGs attacked and the three of them fought back as Churro Bot played her
guitar. "Time for a costume change" Henry hinted to Ziggy. "What about your
sister?" Ziggy cautioned. "I trust her" he assured Ziggy.
"RPM! Get in gear!" they shouted and morphed. "My brother is a Power Ranger?"
Piper gasped. "I hope I remembered to take my heart pills today!"
Churro Bot began shooting energy blasts out of the neck of her guitar.
"You no can escape 'Enry!" she taunted. "I is going to get you! OW!"
Henry fired his road blaster at Churro Bot, destroying her guitar. "The show
is over now!" she cried. Henry blasted the bot with his energy pulse and posed
heroically as she exploded. "Now THAT'S a big finish!" he quipped.
Henry and Ziggy left to pick up Jasper and Charlotte and return to Corinth.
Inside the Hart house Piper opened a photo album to a photo of Henry,
Charlotte, and Jasper. In the photo they were old. Henry had grey hair and
wrinkles, Charlotte had short grey hair, and Jasper had long grey hair and a
grey beard.
"I miss you, Henry" she whispered.